. "2000"^^ . "\"Welcome to the Machine\" appears on the seminal Pink Floyd album, \"Wish You Were Here,\" which is widely considered among the greatest rock albums of all time. The song tells the story of an aspiring young musician, whose experiences serve as a metaphor for the band's growing disillusionment with the money-making aspects of the recording industry, which took priority over creativity and artistic expression."@en . . . . "R. Waters"@en . . "Welcome to the Machine"@en . . . . . "The sergeant lay prone and silent, the barrel of his rifle poking slightly past the sill. Scott stood awkwardly by, looking over his shoulder at the beams of light coming down through the roof. It was almost angelic. They fidgeted. McKenzie and Scott flicked pebbles at each other, and Jacobsen smoked. The sergeant just lay there. He could have been asleep. After a long while they became aware of other sounds under the songbirds and the light creek of the broken ceiling slats. There was movement, and slight hints of \u201Cs\u201D sounds drifting from voices at the far rear of the cathedral."@en . . "Welcome To The Machine"@en . . . "Wish You Were Here"@en . . "The sergeant lay prone and silent, the barrel of his rifle poking slightly past the sill. Scott stood awkwardly by, looking over his shoulder at the beams of light coming down through the roof. It was almost angelic. \u201CGet the fuck down, jackass,\u201D said Private McKenzie jovially, tugging on the edge of Scott\u2019s coat. Scott scrambled down, weapon bouncing loudly off the stone. Then they waited, tensely. A full platoon of German soldiers was scheduled to come through sometime that morning, though they didn\u2019t know when. They had three squads behind them, thankfully, but Private Scott\u2019s squad would be at the front. They fidgeted. McKenzie and Scott flicked pebbles at each other, and Jacobsen smoked. The sergeant just lay there. He could have been asleep. After a long while they became aware of other sounds under the songbirds and the light creek of the broken ceiling slats. There was movement, and slight hints of \u201Cs\u201D sounds drifting from voices at the far rear of the cathedral. \u201CYou hear that, sarge?\u201D asked Private Jacobsen, inching over on his elbows. \u201CYup,\u201D the NCO responded. \u201CNone of our boys are up this far.\u201D \u201CMaybe two of us should go check it out-\u201D Jacobsen added, eager to get up. \u201CJerry ain\u2019t up this far either,\u201D the sergeant continued, not listening. He peered far off down the road. \u201CWe\u2019re all going,\u201D he decided. \u201CGet up.\u201D The four stood and began moving to the back of the church, Private Scott in tow. The light disoriented them, shifting from bright to dark as they walked beneath the gashes in the great ceiling. The sergeant lifted a finger to his lips. A spent cartridge jangled underfoot, and Scott jumped a little. Behind the altar and to the left was a wooden door, slightly ajar. Voices echoed from within, up a long stone staircase. And there was another noise, something subtler, and higher pitched, barely audible. Suddenly the sound of gunfire erupted up from below. The soldiers sprang from inaction and pressed themselves against the wall. There were shouts from the basement, and more shots. The sergeant motioned quickly with two fingers, looking markedly at Private Scott. Scott turned from the wall to the door, rifle outstretched, and felt aching pangs of adrenaline up the back of his neck. He pushed into the stairwell gingerly. The three other men followed him slowly down the moist, dark passage. The gunfire had stopped, but there were still loud cries emanating from below, and a strange, shrill chittering, as if from rats. They came to the bottom of the steps, and Scott leaned quickly around the edge of the threshold. It was a long basement room with a low ceiling, poorly lit by flickering torches in wall brackets. At the end of the room was an altar, hung with a white cloth. Upon it sat an ornate golden goblet. It shone strangely in the relative darkness, giving off a bluish shimmer. In the center of the basement was a wooden table, upon which stood two figures. They were a man and a woman, and they wore odd khaki jumpsuits. The man was frantically fiddling with a flamethrower, cursing loudly in an accent that sounded German. The woman stood at his back, brandishing an ugly machete. There was a third khaki figure below them on the floor, body partially obscured by a dark, flowing mass. As Scott looked closer, he saw that the mass was in fact a swarm of thousands of vermin. They were nothing he had ever seen before \u2013 grapefruit sized, skittering with perverted rapidity on spindly legs, screeching incessantly. Most of them pressed at the table, crawling over each other in ravenous eagerness to get up to the two figures. The woman swept the machete low, angrily slicing back the creatures that managed to mount the table. The man was cursing in German, and whacking at the flamethrower with his fists. Private Scott stood agape at the base of the stair. \u201CWhat the hell is going on in there?\u201D asked the sergeant impatiently, pushing Scott aside and stepping down to the basement floor. \u201COh fuck-\u201D he managed. The rushing mass of creatures on the floor turned simultaneously from the table to look at the four soldiers. The little nightmares grinned with hundreds of thousands of unnaturally needle-like teeth. After a moment\u2019s hesitation, they sprinted for the men. The sergeant was paralyzed. Scott hysterically squeezed off a clip of shots while a screaming McKenzie attempted to pull himself back up the staircase. The four soldiers were quickly over-swept. A tide of tiny, searing pinpricks attacked their bodies, ripping little chunks out of their flesh. They were pulled down to the floor. Their ears were filled with the incessant screeching. Scott blacked out when they began tearing at his face. Private Scott awoke on the stone floor, his sight blurry, spluttering blood. He turned his head, and the dead eyes of the sergeant stared back at him. Jacobsen was slumped in the corner, also dead. McKenzie was face down on the stairs. He didn\u2019t know how much time had passed, but he was sticky all over with his own blood. An excruciating pain suddenly expressed itself throughout his body. He gurgled, arching his back. There was an acrid smell in the air, like burning, and the myriad little bodies of the needle-toothed creatures lay blackened and legs-up on the floor all around. The man and the woman in the khaki suits were standing over their fallen comrade at the other end of the basement. \u201CI\u2019m sorry, Marty,\u201D said the German one, folding the man\u2019s arms over his chest. \u201CWe should have been more cautious,\u201D said the woman, distraught. \u201CLook, we got the goblet,\u201D the German replied, \u201Cand he died doing his duty, in the field. We couldn\u2019t have foreseen the flamethrower malfunctioning.\u201D \u201CI know\u2026\u201D said the woman, dejectedly. Scott coughed again, and she looked over to the staircase. \u201COne of those bastards is alive!\u201D she exclaimed. The woman ran over, feet crunching on the small bodies littering the floor. She bent down and put a finger to the side of Scott\u2019s neck. \u201CAlexandra! We don\u2019t have time for this!\u201D chastised her companion. \u201CI know,\u201D she replied, exasperated, \u201Cthe Germans are going to be here soon.\u201D \u201CThe Nazis are going to be here soon,\u201D the man said sharply. \u201CThis kid is barely alive,\u201D she said, ignoring him. \u201CLeave him. An unfortunate casualty.\u201D \u201CWe can save him,\u201D she said, after a pause. \u201CHow? He\u2019s fatally wounded\u2026what, do you mean to use\u2026?\u201D the German asked incredulously. \u201CYes!\u201D the woman exclaimed. \u201CNo way,\u201D her companion cried, waving his hands. \u201CLeave him. Even if you did what you\u2019re thinking, you\u2019d be giving him no choice.\u201D \u201CHe has no choice. He\u2019s dying.\u201D \u201CHow would we ever get away with it, Alexandra?\u201D the man pleaded. \u201CWe\u2019ll take him with us,\u201D she said firmly. There was a long silence between them. Private Scott spluttered weakly, blood soaking through his uniform. He felt his feet growing cold. \u201CHe\u2019ll be stuck, he\u2019ll be imprisoned for the rest of his life,\u201D said the German. \u201CI know \u2013 I know,\u201D said the woman. \u201CBut at least we\u2019ll have given him life. We owe him that.\u201D \u201CHe\u2019s not our burden\u2026,\u201D the German said, but his tone revealed that he had given way. \u201CIf anyone ever finds out about this, it will be both of our heads,\u201D he stressed, conceding. Scott was aware of someone crouching down beside him. He sensed something cold and metal being pressed to his lips. And suddenly his body was filled with a warm, dense liquid. The pain was forgotten, like a dream slipping away, and he felt the ragged tears across in his flesh sealing and knitting together. And he was better. SCP-1451 is a Caucasian male of indeterminate age\u2026"@en . . . "Song Name: Welcome To The Machine Artist: Pink Floyd Album: Wish You Were Here, Shine On Run Time: 7:31 Year: 1975 Track Number: 2 Sung By: David Gilmour Written By: Roger Waters Info: \n* This is notable for its use of heavily processed synthesizers and guitars, as well as a wide and varied range of tape effects. The song explores the band's negativity towards the music industry. They thought their introduction to the industry was soulless and unfeeling, like a machine. On the original album, this segued from \"Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. I-V)\" and closed the first side. On the CD pressings, especially the 1997 and 2000 remastered issues, it segues (although very faintly) to \"Have A Cigar\" even though the segueing was a few seconds longer on the US version than the UK version. \n* G"@en . . "Story"@en . . . "1975"^^ . . . . . "Welcome to the Machine"@en . . "Song Name: Welcome To The Machine Artist: Pink Floyd Album: Wish You Were Here, Shine On Run Time: 7:31 Year: 1975 Track Number: 2 Sung By: David Gilmour Written By: Roger Waters Info: \n* This is notable for its use of heavily processed synthesizers and guitars, as well as a wide and varied range of tape effects. The song explores the band's negativity towards the music industry. They thought their introduction to the industry was soulless and unfeeling, like a machine. On the original album, this segued from \"Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. I-V)\" and closed the first side. On the CD pressings, especially the 1997 and 2000 remastered issues, it segues (although very faintly) to \"Have A Cigar\" even though the segueing was a few seconds longer on the US version than the UK version. \n* Gerald Scarfe created a powerfully disturbing music video (it was a backdrop film for when the band played the track on its 1977 In The Flesh tour), which displays a giant mechanical beast somewhere between triceratops and armadillo (possibly a reference to the sleeve of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's Tarkus, the cover of which also features an armadillo/machine hybrid, though it also resembles a Texas Horned Lizard somewhat) lumbering across an apocalyptic cityscape. Emaciated rats leap around corpse-laden steel girders, gleaming industrial smokestacks crack and ooze blood, and a tower grows out of this desert, transforms into a screaming monster and decapitates an unsuspecting man. His head then very slowly decays to a damaged skull. Finally, an ocean of blood washes away this wasteland, and the waves turn into thousands of hands waving in rhythm to the music (much like people at a rock concert). Despite being pulled at by the bloody masses, one building survives and, synchronizing with the sound effects at the end of the song, flies up and away, high above the clouds to where it fits snugly into a hole inside a gargantuan floating ovoid structure. \n* In live performances of the song on Pink Floyd's 1977 \"In The Flesh\" tour, Gilmour and Waters shared lead vocals, although in initial performances, Gilmour sang on his own with some backing vocals by Waters. Also for live performances, David Gilmour played his acoustic guitar parts on his Fender Stratocaster. \n* The \"Welcome my son, welcome to the machine\" line of the song is usually played before several rides start to run at many U.S.A. amusement parks. \n* The song has been covered by metal band Shadows Fall. \n* The track's style and use of guitar and synthesizers influenced ABBA's hit song \"Knowing Me, Knowing You\". \n* The penultimate level of the video game Ecco the Dolphin is named after this song. It is set inside a gigantic alien device. \n* Roger Waters performed this song on his 1999-2002 In The Flesh Tour. It was also featured on the In The Flesh concert DVD/CD."@en . . . . "\"Welcome to the Machine\" appears on the seminal Pink Floyd album, \"Wish You Were Here,\" which is widely considered among the greatest rock albums of all time. The song tells the story of an aspiring young musician, whose experiences serve as a metaphor for the band's growing disillusionment with the money-making aspects of the recording industry, which took priority over creativity and artistic expression."@en .